Save the Sound fights for endangered species on Plum Island

Save the Sound, a bi-state program of Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and Soundkeeper have issued a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue to the Department of Homeland Security and the General Services Administration, informing the federal agencies that the organizations intend to file suit under the Endangered Species Act.

The organizations allege that the agencies have failed to protect endangered and threatened species while pursuing a public sale of the federally-owned island.

“For decades, Plum Island has been a refuge for rare wildlife in our highly-developed region,” said Leah Lopez Schmalz, director of legislative and legal affairs at Save the Sound. “The island and the waters around it are a safe haven for terns, plovers, sea turtles, rare orchids, and untold thousands of migrating birds each year. The federal government has a solemn legal and ethical obligation to protect threatened and endangered species.”